


The lost bird of Jove

by TheWillOfNerds



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, F/M, Foreign Pantheon, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, New Pantheon, References to Depression, Slow Burn, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-03-11 14:45:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13526487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWillOfNerds/pseuds/TheWillOfNerds
Summary: One of the Praetors has to travel to the Old Lands to reclaim what was rightfully stolen and to protect what remains of the ancient gods lineage along a miscellaneous company of heroes.





	1. Epilogue

* * *

 

_-Somewhere in the East Coast-_

There was a clear night, the sea brushing softly against the shore, the moon shining lazily above two shapes standing next to what looked like a capsized shipwreck. It seemed like a calm night, until you hear them argue.

"This is a great fucking way to start or mission, don't you think!" shouted a feminine voice.

"Hey!" A guy answered. "It's not my fault _you_ fell asleep when _you_ were the one in charge of making it to port!"

"Oh! So now it's all my fault." She snapped back.

"Holy gods, just shut up and help me start this stupid fire." He said. "We need to focus and start thinking about what are we going to do tomorrow morning."

"I say we go fetch the wizard first, he has to be somewhere around the South, then we go to the West Coast and finally come to get our ride back."

"No."

"What?!"

"I mean," He said trying to calm her down "we could go West first, and then we take a detour South. He might not want to be stuck with us for more time than the strictly necessary."

"What if you go get the wizard while I go west, and then you guys catch up?" He snorted. "I don't trust you enough to send you alone to have a civil conversation. Last time you went on a mission to try and get some allies you almost started a war, and we can't afford to start one with these guys."

They stood in silence for a while after that.

"Start the campfire, I'll go to sleep, you get the first watch." She said at last. "We'll go east first thing in the morning." She concluded.

* * *

 

_-Somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin-_

"I hate you." He said, knees deep in snow.

"Thanks cousin, me too." She sassed back.

"We should have stopped by D.C., or Columbus at least."

"You were the one in a hurry little cuz." She said back, without losing the smug grin on her face. "And, you said we should travel near the Northern border."

"It's safer than going through the whole country," He said trying (and failing) to get his feet out of the snowy trap. "Or the south." He added.

"I agree. C'mon, the line's crossing is nearby, I think we could make it before nightfall." She said helping him up.

On the distance lay Lake Superior, shimmering trapped between white and green shores.

* * *

 

_-Somewhere in the streets of San Francisco-_

"Admit it."

"Never."

"We are lost."

"Shut up!" She snapped, hiding behind a map and a couple of shades.

"Never." He said back, smiling, being regarded with a glare and a smack on the back of his head. "Ouch!"

"Will you shut up now?"

"Gimme the map." He said doing a 'grabby hands' gesture.

"Stop being so childish," She answered annoyed. "I just need to find the road."

"There's at least two days between us and the camp, give me the map or we will lose another week, that we clearly don't have."

"Alright," She said giving him the map halfheartedly "Wanna grab a snack before going to have a run with the wolves?"

"Sure."

_**To be continued...** _


	2. Strangers in the night

Even though the conflicts were over, Reyna still couldn’t sleep well. She was often feeling anxious and restless, and finding herself walking around Camp Jupiter tense, expecting an attack. The months to follow the end of the conflict with the Triumvirate were harsh, they had lost so much and so many people, the rebuilding of the camp was taking ages, plus the building of the new Temple Hill Jason designed, …

“Gods, _Jason_.” She thought. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that he was gone, _forever_. “At least I still have Hazel and Rachel and the rest of the gang.” They were being really supporting, helping out as they could. Annabeth and Rachel were managing the Temple Hill project, Percy helped out setting the Little Tiber back to its natural course and fixing the broken part of the aqueduct alongside Leo, who was now at the Waystation with Calypso, Frank had really developed as a Praetor, being an enormous help to Reyna during the Senate meetings, even young Hazel helped, being the best emotional support as the younger sister she never had and repairing the damage of the Field of Mars.

The Field of Mars. She walked past it, her legs burning, her mind being cooled down by the chilly air of the night. Her pacing led her through the Berkeley Hills, always keeping the Little Tiber to her left so she wouldn’t get lost. The cold air helped her calm down, but still she was restless.

She walked downhill, passing by a couple of boulders.

“Goodnight Praetor.”

“Gods, Terminus!” Reyna exclaimed “You startled me” She added, more calmly now.

“I’m sorry Reyna” he answered, “I just pretended to inform you that you are reaching our camp’s limits.”

“I know” Reyna said, as she stopped walking, but started bouncing her foot up and down uneasy “How is everything?”

She didn’t know if the question took Terminus by surprise or if he just wasn’t there anymore, so she turned to observe the boulders. She found him staring blankly into the nothingness, as if he were paralyzed, only to snap out of it a couple of seconds later.

“There are no incidents to report Praetor Reyna” he informed, not the answer she expected but at least there was no trouble at camp. “Although you might want to take a walk nearer to the Little Tiber, there is someone that would like to talk to you.”

“Well, that’s just weird,” she thought, “who might be out here this late at night.” Before she could ask for more information Terminus had already disappeared, so she crested the hill and headed towards the river. She saw a faint glow in the distance, under a couple of trees, a campfire, this night was getting even more strange. One of the figures looked like Rachel, and the other one had its back to the fire, where a pot was brewing, so she couldn’t know who it was, what she did know it’s that there were talking, and not in a language she understood.

Carefully, she got closer, hiding as she could between the tall grass and the young trees. The girl looked like Rachel, she was a redhead, half of her hair braided in weird patterns and the other half cascading down her back, but she looked a lot bulkier. Reyna could see a couple of bags resting next to a tree with a various assortment of weapons strapped to them, including a pair of one bladed battle axes. So she decided to take out her silver pocket knife just in case. 

She crept closer, now she was able to see that the other figure was a guy, with longish hair and a slim complexion, he stood up to add some herb to the pot, that was now close to boiling. Reyna saw now that he was a little taller than the redhead, but his face had young features, they couldn’t be older than her, around seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. 

They kept chatting, but Reyna didn’t catch a word of the conversation. Some time passed, she was still hunched behind a tree, when a little breeze passed through the grove, making the boy freeze, then relax as he spoke “Would you come sit with us please?” he said with calmness, but with some stiffness too. 

“Who are you talking to?” said the redhead “We are alone here, the god told us to wait until dawn to make a move.” The boy simply looked her in the eye and said, “She’s here, hiding behind that young white alder” he paused, then directed his voice towards where Reyna was crouching “Please join us, we just made some valerian tea.” 

“Why would I?” Reyna retorted “Why would I join two strangers camping at the edge of my camp in the night to have a cup of tea?” 

“You are right, you shouldn’t trust us straight away” the redhead said, “but would your god lead you towards us if he knew we were going to do any harm to you?”

“Please, believe me, we mean no harm” added the guy.

Reyna now stood up, but she didn’t get any closer. “Then what’s with the weapons over there?”

“Those are for self-defense” said the redhead shrugging it off. “What would it take for you to join us?” she added.

Reyna stood unsure of what to do. Surely Terminus would never do anything to harm her, but he had seemed to be in a trance like state when he responded to her back on the hillside. Besides the pair was unarmed, supposedly all their weapons were in their bags and they haven’t tried to attack her in any way, but she doubted they were vulnerable in any way, plus she wasn't sure about the tea either, maybe it was posionous. She decided to sit with them, under her own terms.

“I will sit with you” she said, “but you will toss your bags and weapons at my feet before I get any closer, you two will drink the tea before I do, and you will answer my questions truthfully.” Aurum and Argentum might not be able to be on their canine form anymore, but the gold and silver rings Leo crafted for Reyna had their essence and will inform her if the two strangers lied.

“Sure thing” said the guy with a small smirk, standing up and throwing the bags at her feet. “Care to join us now?”

She walked over to the campfire, and sat cross-legged in silence, watching carefully the strangers.

The girl was definitely not Rachel, her hair was way longer, even with the braids, and she didn’t have any freckles on her skin, as pale as moonlight. She had high and defined cheekbones and a small sharp nose hovering over a thin mouth. She looked like a marble statue come to life, except for the large scar that crossed her face horizontally, just under her eyes and across her nose. She was surely more muscular than her, she wore a tank top that showed off her arms, camouflage cargo shorts and hiking boots. She was sitting to her right, watching her unamused.

The guy had light brown hair, shorter at the sides and the back, he had a light tan, probably from traveling. His features were normal, he wasn’t god-like, but he wasn’t too bad, she thought. He gave her the impression that even though he wasn’t looking at her as he was serving the tea, he was fully aware of his surroundings. He wore a hoodie, and cargo shorts and hiking boots like the girl’s. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing he had his arms fully bandaged, from the tip of his fingers up into his hoodie, not revealing a tad of skin. But even with the bandages he moved precisely, as if he calculated every movement before doing it.

He handed her and the girl a plastic cup. Reyna waited until they drank to take a sip and watched as the girl downed the glass in one huge gulp. It was not a bad tea; the guy used some honey as sweetener and the valerian was relaxing her and soothing the feeling of anxiety on her chest.

“What do you wanna know?” said the girl, gaze still fixed on her.

“First your names” Reyna had learned over the years that names are powerful things.

“I am Erica” She said. “And my name is Darius.” Said the guy.

“I’m Reyna” she said, feeling obliged to comply.

“We know who you are” Erica said “Reyna, daughter of Bellona, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Hero of Olympus.” She said that as if it were nothing, always looking at her, there was something about her that made Reyna’s skin crawl, making her shift uncomfortably on her seat.

“How do you know that?”

This time Darius answered. “We found out from you protector god Terminus. We wanted an audience, what we didn’t know was that you were going to show up here tonight.”

Something wasn’t quite right, her instinct told her there was more behind the answer. It was the truth, yes, the rings said so, but not the whole truth.

“Why do you want an audience with me?" 

“We wanted an audience with the Senate _and_ we wanted to talk to you in private. We have valuable information that could benefit the Legion and we need you to be on our side” he said.

“We can’t tell you before we tell the Senate” Erica retorted. 

“Then why should I trust you? What is this thing you are talking about? Are you even demigods?” now Reyna was getting annoyed.

“You shouldn’t, we can’t tell you,” Erica said holding back a smile “and yes you could say that we are.”

Reyna didn’t know why she found exasperating that smile, but she did, and the vague answers didn’t help. Darius was watching amused the exchange, hiding behind his mug. “If looks could kill” he though.

“Look” he intervened, making them both glare at him. He swallowed hard before answering “Listen to me very carefully, we mean no harm to you or your people, we came here in peace, and we have found out about something that could benefit us both. We need you because the place we come from has had something similar to a bumpy relationship with Rome and we need to win over the Senate.”

Reyna was tired, she, was tired the vague answers. She had nothing more to say. “I have no further questions, I will see you two tomorrow at New Rome.” She said with a stoic look on her face. So, she stood up and headed to camp, without even giving a look back, no second thoughts crossing her mind.

"We will see you where the _Via Praetoria_ meets the _Pomerium_!" the guy shouted from behind her as she picked up her pace "At sunrise!"

At sunrise it was, then.


	3. At sunrise

When the sun started rising behind Mount Diablo the strangers were already standing in front of the welcoming party Reyna organized just in case. She didn’t trust them yet and wanted to have some backup just in case, so she woke up Frank and explained him the… situation before taking with them a couple of centurions that were on watch duty.

Now the light let Reyna notice some things she couldn’t see the night before at the campfire. For example, small silver scars covered the guy’s, “Darius” she remembered, legs, which made her wonder if that was what the bandages on his arms were covering. A small smirk danced on his lips as he approached, his eyes a weird mix of green and brown shinning with something Reyna could not identify, and his nose was covered in freckles. They were wearing the same clothes as the day before and he was using a quite long walking stick he didn’t seem to need.

Reyna’s eyes darted towards Erica, and what she saw paralyzed her. She had her hair braided the same way as yesterday, long braids of fiery red hair cascading down her well-defined shoulders reaching her lower back. But what shocked Reyna the most were her eyes. Gods, her _eyes_. Her irises were pure white surrounded by a dark blue. They were fresh snow and deep sea, and with one look they could make you freeze in place and snatch your breath away.

Reyna shook herself out of her daze and signaled them to follow her, leaving their bags under the custody of Terminus and leading them to the Senate Building. Not many words were exchanged, not even when they left all their weaponry and belongings with the Guardian God, neither when they were entering the Senate.

As the senators and the ghosts filled the tiered seats Reyna headed to her chair on the front of the room next to Frank’s as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around to see Darius smiling shyly to her.

“Please” he said, “we will surely need your support for this.”

“I’ll do what I can” she answered, not making promises. She knew it’s better not to.

With that Reyna sat down on her chair as Erica and Darius stood in front of her, facing the Senate members, so she exchanged a look with Frank, having a silent conversation decided which one of them should start the meeting.

That was how things were with Frank, he had become a great friend and support. He was a really good leader, and he was truly synched with Reyna when it came to give orders and make decisions, maybe it was because they were both children of gods of war, maybe it was sheer luck. The only thing Reyna knew it was she was glad they were leading the camp together. But she wasn’t sure where his mind was on the subject at hand. He seemed wary, even more than her.

Finally, Reyna decided to start herself.

“I, Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, declare this meeting of the Senate of New Rome started” she stated, “The subject we are going to discuss is an offer these two strangers seem to have. They affirm a deal with them will be rewarding to us, implying that if we help them it would benefit greatly New Rome.”

“How can two strangers help us?” said an old senator.

“Yes. How can two disreputable _barbari_ help the Empire?” added a ghost venomously.

“Enough!” exclaimed Frank, quieting the room that had erupted with noise a couple of instants before. “We will hear what they have to say” he announced looking to the senators, “and then we will decide whether we help them, or not” he added slowly, now watching Darius and Erica. Darius took that as his cue and started explaining their proposal.

“We have traveled half way across the world to get here. We come from the Forbidden Lands and we are demigods of gods forgotten. We are here, because the place we call home is in danger, some of your old compatriots rose when the Doors of Death were open and decided to organize and resume unfinished campaigns. We are asking for your assistance, any help you can offer is welcomed. My cousin Erica and I, understand that is way too much to ask for, to come back with us across the Atlantic and fight alongside with us, but we will give you something back, something will help you gain back some strength after the wars you had to suffer during the last couples of years, we can give you one of your precious eagles back.”

And just with those simple words the room exploded around Reyna.


End file.
